" Searching for Citizenship Nationality is a legal bond between a state and an individual, and statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is not considered as a national by any state. Although stateless people may sometimes also be refugees, the two categories are distinct and both groups are of concern to UNHCR.
Statelessness occurs for a variety of reasons including discrimination against minority groups in nationality legislation, failure to include all residents in the body of citizens when a state becomes independent (state succession) and conflicts of laws between states....."
What is Statelessness?_ An explanation of the two kinds of statelessness: de jure and de facto..... Who is Stateless and Where?_ There are an estimated 12 million stateless people in dozens of countries around the world..... UNHCR Actions_ UNHCR works in four key ways: identification, protection, prevention and reduction..... Working with Partners_ We work with governments, civil society and aid organizations to address statelessness.
This page contains Documents and Publications on Statelessness including
Statelessness in the News, Documents on Statelessness
laws, commentaries, historical documents, UNHCR's role in relation to statelessness and a useful link to Statelessness Documents on Refworld site.

Texts of the instruments dealing with statelessness:
The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless
Persons;
States parties, declarations and reservations to the
1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless
Persons;
Objectives and key provisions of the 1954
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless
Persons;
The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;
States parties, declarations and reservations to the
1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; Objectives and key provisions of the 1961
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

"Millions of people around the world are without nationality. Many of them belong to an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority in the country where they have often lived for generations.
Discrimination, exclusion and persecution most commonly describe the existence of stateless minorities.
More than 75% of the world’s known stateless populations belong to minority groups...
This report explains the circumstances that have led to them not being recognized as citizens, drawing on discussions with four stateless or formerly stateless minority groups. The findings in this report underscore the critical need for minorities to enjoy the right to nationality..."

"Stateless people are found in all parts of the globe — Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas—entire communities, new-born babies, children, couples and older people.
Their one common curse, the lack of any nationality, deprives them of rights that the majority of the global population takes for granted. Often they are excluded from cradle to grave—being denied a legal identity when they are born, access to education, health care, marriage and job opportunities during their lifetime and even the dignity of an official burial and a death certificate when they die.
Statelessness is a man-made problem and occurs because of a bewildering array of causes. Entire swathes of a population may become stateless overnight due to political or legal directives or the redrawing of state boundaries. Families endure generations of statelessness despite having deep-rooted and longstanding ties to their communities and countries..."

" A Personal Appeal from the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees: Today, millions of people around the
world face serious difficulties owing to
statelessness. The Convention relating to
the Status of Stateless Persons provides
a framework for States to assist stateless
people – allowing them to live in security
and dignity until their situation can be
resolved. Presently, very few States are
parties to this instrument. We need to
change that. I call on States to accede
to the Convention and pledge the full
support of my Office to governments to
help implement its provisions....."

" UNHCR’s Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU) is committed to the systematic examination and assessment of UNHCR policies, programmes, projects and practices. EPAU also promotes rigorous research on issues related to the work of UNHCR and encourages an active exchange of ideas and information between humanitarian practitioners, policymakers and the research community. All of these activities are undertaken with the purpose of strengthening UNHCR’s operational effectiveness, thereby enhancing the organization’s capacity to fulfil its mandate on behalf of refugees and other displaced people. The work of the unit is guided by the principles of transparency, independence, consultation and relevance....."

"The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness was
adopted on 30 August 1961 and entered into force on 13
December 1975. It complements the 1954 Convention relating
to the Status of Stateless Persons and was the result of over a
decade of international negotiations on how to avoid the incidence
of statelessness. Together, these two treaties form the
foundation of the international legal framework to address
statelessness, a phenomenon which continues to adversely
a#ect the lives of millions of people around the world. "e
1961 Convention is the leading international instrument that
sets rules for the conferral and non-withdrawal of citizenship
to prevent cases of statelessness from arising. By setting out
rules to limit the occurrence of statelessness, the Convention
gives effect to article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights which recognizes that “everyone has the right to a
nationality....”

Adopted on 28 September 1954 by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries convened by Economic and
Social Council resolution 526 A (XVII) of 26 April 1954
Entry into force: 6 June 1960, in accordance with article 39